Obama, Mohawks: not as different as you might think

Back when I was in elementary school, T-shirts with Bart Simpson printed on them were banned…. Back when I was in elementary school, T-shirts with Bart Simpson printed on them were banned. It probably had something to do with the school’s policy against eating someone’s shorts.

The same thing happened in middle school with apparel depicting the many ways Kenny died in “South Park.”

Then, one day when I was in high school, a kid was sent home for dressing like a girl. Had cross-dressing been a theme for Spirit Day, there would have been no problem.

The reason these things are relevant is because of a recent suspension of a 6-year-old boy from Ohio. According to an article from the Associated Press, the kindergartener was suspended from the Parma Community School after coming to class with a Mohawk.

The boy’s mother recognized the school’s dress code, but she said nothing in the school’s handbook prohibits the haircut.

“They can’t tell me how I can cut his hair,” she said.

Fortunately for this kid, his mother gives him a haircut he likes. I look back on my early years with anguish as I remember the spiked mullet with which my parents cursed me. To their credit, the bow tie they made me wear was quite fashionable.

But this is an issue that goes deeper than a lack of parental fashion sense.

At the time, I had no idea how ridiculous my haircut was. My favorite television hero was Captain Planet, so the only thing that could have made me happier was green hair dye. But I digress. The suspension of this child was based on the fact that he became a distraction to other students.

It is reasonable for a school to have certain policies regarding dress and grooming. A school is a place of education and should be treated as such. However, the issue does not lay with the haircut itself but rather the response it receives.

Granted, a Mohawk is, by many standards, uncommon and unusual. Yet it seems as though every time something distracting arises in our lives, someone is there to try and stifle it. We are trained at a young age to be weary of things that are different and new. Sameness is comfort. A Mohawk is weird.

And sometimes it isn’t something important like school from which we are being distracted. Sometimes the Mohawk could be what is going to make a difference in the world. And yet there are always those people who teach us to fear the Mohawk and what it stands for.

This strange analogy translates well into the Democratic presidential primary race this year. Sen. Barack Obama, whether or not he is a good candidate, is experiencing first-hand fear tactics meant to stifle him and his message of what so many avoid: change.

Conservative talk radio has led a charge against Obama and his middle name. Ann Coulter refers to the candidate only as B. Hussein Obama. Rush Limbaugh criticizes him for empty rhetoric and calls his supporters “followers.” Criticisms of Obama and the photograph of him wearing a turban are xenophobic and merely characterize the frustration these types feel about not having anything real with which to bash him.

The same thing happens with Al Gore. When these columnists and television personalities cannot find anything legitimate to use against him, they tell fat jokes.

Even Sen. Hillary Clinton – to a lesser degree – has engaged in fear politics against Obama. This type of campaign tactic is common for any political race – except for one thing. The Mohawk hasn’t been shaved. This year’s elections show real evidence of the difference between our generation and generations past.

Our generation is bringing about the beginning of a new chapter in this country. We aren’t afraid of turbans or middle names. It seems to me that what we fear is sameness and monotony.

There will always be pockets of ignorance, but that way of thinking is beginning to slip into a marginal fraction of people. Perhaps this is a long way from some kindergartener’s Mohawk.

But at least now when his classmates see another person sporting a Mohawk, they won’t be so surprised. The next time they see a Mohawk, it won’t seem so strange and different.

The other kindergarteners might prefer crew cuts, flat tops, pompadours, beehives or even Captain Planet’s mullet. But it is certain that Mohawks will no longer distract them.

Eventually, the Mohawk will become normal and accepted – different but legitimate.

Then someday when the Mohawk becomes monotonous, students will be prepared for the glorious return of the Flock of Seagulls haircut.

What haircut distracts you? E-mail Josh at jmg77@pitt.edu.